Comelec delists 25 party-list groups

Twenty-five party-list groups can no longer participate in the May 2010 elections after being delisted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec). In a full-bench resolution issued Tuesday, the poll body said the 25 groups were taken out of its official list after failing to get at least two percent of the votes cast in the last two elections. The Comelec cited as basis Section 6 (8) of the Omnibus Election Code, stating that poll body “may motu proprio" remove or cancel the registration of any national, regional, or sectoral party, organization or coalition on a number of grounds. One of these includes the “failure to participate in the last two (2) preceding elections or fails to obtain at least two per centum (2%) of the votes cast under the party-list system in the two (2) preceding elections for the constituency in which it has registered." The delisted party-list groups are as follows:

The Comelec said groups stricken off the list could still file their verified opposition to the resolution on October 26, during office hours. The Comelec, however, stressed that this rule does not cover party-list groups which had already been allocated seats in 2007 based on several Supreme Court rulings on party-list related cases. These include Barangay Association for National Advancement and Transparency (BANAT) vs Comelec, G.R. No. 179271; and Bayan Muna, A Teacher, and Abono vs. Comelec, G.R. No. 179295. The poll body is still in the process of deliberating on the requests for accreditation of more than 200 groups wishing to participate in the May 2010 party-list elections. The Commission on Elections had set the period of filing of certificates of candidacy from November 20 to 30. - GMANews.TV